Wearing bib number 141, Adam Swank of Duluth (who would win the race) checks his watch as the race leaves the Birch Grove Community Center parking lot. There was a lot of joy at the start and a lot of relief at the finish.
For 33 years people have come from far and wide on the 4th of July to run or walk the Tofte Trek 10K through the woods, up hill and down, through grass and mud.
The trek, begun by Jan Horak of Tofte, follows hiking and snowmobile trails and is usually so muddy that tennis shoes are sometimes sucked into the muck. Normally no one escapes without some mud, but not so this year. Finishers were relatively clean and dry at the finish—except for local racers David Bergstrom and Jeremy Dockan, who looked as if they may have purposely pushed each other into the mud!
The fact that the 4th of July was in the middle of the week did not dampen the enthusiasm of the racers and fans. There were nearly 250 racers—many more if you count the participants in the delightful kiddie races and a youth one-mile race.
Everyone seemed to enjoy the relatively mild temperature and the east wind off of Lake Superior. The top 20 racers in the run/walk are listed on page B5. Visit www.toftetrek.com for complete results.
Adam Swank (who called himself Chase Matush in the official results) finished about a minute up on the field.
Kaelyn Williams finished first among the women runners and looked like she hadn’t struggled at all through the hills and tough footing.
Above: There wasn’t a lot of mud on the trail this year, but Jeremy Dockan (left) and David Bergstrom found just enough to cover themselves from head to foot. Right: Local young runners Kieran Scannell and Drew Holmen had the most exciting race of the day. Scannell edged Holmen by two tenths of a second to finish second overall in an all out sprint to the finish line.
Tofte Trekking! Braidy Powers once again won the Mens’ 10K Walk finishing 9 minutes ahead of second place.
Ellen Anderson of Grand Marais was the first women finisher in the 10K Walk.
The kids’ races are a blast to watch. When the race is close sometimes you can win by a tongue!
Lots of kids participated in the short sprint races at the Tofte 10K, and all of the kids competed just as hard—if not harder—then their adult counterparts.
Ailee Larson finished third overall in the Women’s Division of the 10K race.
Local runners Derek Smith (front) and Joey Chmelik looked strong on the trail. Smith finished in 11th place in 45:37.3 and Chmelik was 12th coming in at 45:46.1.
Loading Comments